Danville Express

Epicure: It takes you to mango

A quick logic question (remember the SAT's?): Lamb is to meat what sashimi is to seafood what zinfandel is to red wine what ??? is to fruit. The correct answer, of course, is mango.

Well, that's the right answer because this logic is based on MY favorite foods. Having spent my childhood in Miami, mangoes are right at the top of my favorites list, along with grandkids, cruises, mojitos and Sunday brunches. One of my earliest childhood memories is shaking the mango tree in my back yard to yield dozens of mangoes, peeling away the skin with my teeth and eating the juicy mango flesh until it dripped down my chin, through my shirt to my tummy and down to my toes. I didn't mind the stickiness but it's too bad nobody warned me how tough mango stains are to get out of clothing.

The fruit itself is mysterious looking with its shiny skin in green, red, orange and yellow shades and evokes adjectives like tropical, luscious, exotic and sensual. The mango is often described as a unique blend of peach and pineapple but I think it has a taste and texture like none other. Native to Indian for over 4,000 years, there are now 1,000-plus varieties of mangoes in India alone. Mangoes are available April through September, although the best-tasting ones are usually found June through July. There is a widely accepted thought that a glass of milk and a couple mangoes are equal to a full day's nutrients. Mangoes are high fiber, low calorie, and rich in antioxidants, potassium and vitamins A and C.

When buying mangoes, choose unblemished fruits that slightly give way to the touch; avoid hard, mushy or bruised ones. Smell them for a tropical fruit fragrance as unripe mangoes rarely have a scent. If you buy a mango that is not fully ripe, place it in a paper bag for a few days to help it ripen. Occasionally, you will encounter one with stringy flesh but, except for the smallest of mango varieties, stringiness is a factor of nature/nuture and there's no real way to check for that quality.

Mangoes are used extensively in Middle Eastern, Thai, African, Caribbean and Asian dishes, but can be found in dishes of many other cuisines. The sweet, stable texture of mangoes offers balance to strong foods and their versatility allows them to do well in meat/fish toppings, salads, drinks and desserts. To get more familiar with using mangoes, try one of the recipes here. In fact, you don't need a special recipe - just add them (sliced or pureed) to your favorite drink (martini, cosmo, mojito), along with your favorite ice cream, atop your next salad. You and Mr./Miss Mango will make great cooking partners!

3. When ready to serve, divide mango cubes among 8 small dessert cups. Stir chilled fruit mixture and pour evenly over mango cubes in each dessert cup. To serve, garnish each with a mint leaf and raspberries.

2. Grill shrimp: Beginning at thick end, insert a skewer lengthwise through each shrimp to secure. Transfer to a tray. Prepare grill. Whisk together oil, jalapeno chile, cumin, and salt; brush on skewered shrimp until well coated. Grill shrimp, turning occasionally, until lightly charred and just cooked through, about 4 minutes.

Toss mango salad again and divide among 4 individual serving plates. Arrange 4 shrimp on top of each serving.

Prepping and Cutting a Mango

To pit a mango, place it stem side up with the narrow side facing you. Make a vertical slice starting at 1/4 inch to the right of the stem. Repeat on the other side. Lightly score the flesh of the mango into diamonds. Buckle the skin, pushing the flesh outward so that it resembles a hedgehog. Slice off the cubes.

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